In Frank Horvat’s evocative 1959 photograph taken inside Lobb’s shoe shop in London, we are offered a rare, intimate glimpse into a world where craftsmanship, tradition, and social ritual intersect. The image captures a moment of quiet precision: a master shoemaker kneels before a well-dressed client, carefully measuring his foot for a bespoke pair of boots. The client, immaculately attired in a suit and bowler hat, sits poised and composed, embodying the understated elegance of post-war British society.

John Lobb’s shop, founded in 1866 and still located at 9 St James’s Street, has long been a sanctuary for those who value the artistry of handmade footwear. The shop’s clientele has included royalty, statesmen, and celebrities—Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and the Prince of Wales among them—drawn by the promise of shoes crafted entirely around the wearer’s needs and character. Each pair is the result of a meticulous process, starting with the taking of precise measurements, as seen in Horvat’s photograph, and culminating in a creation treasured for a lifetime.

Horvat, known for blending reportage with fashion photography, brings his signature empathy and layered composition to this scene. The photograph is rich with detail: the polished boots on the floor, the reflection of another customer in the mirror, and the subtle interplay of light and shadow. Horvat’s approach was to find meaning in the everyday, to elevate the ordinary into something quietly profound. Here, he captures not just the act of shoemaking, but the enduring values of tradition, individuality, and human connection that define both Lobb’s and London itself in the late 1950s.

This image stands as both a document of its era and a timeless meditation on the rituals of refinement—a testament to Horvat’s ability to find poetry in the most unassuming corners of city life.